Merchandise wrapping



Oct. 17, 1944. I w, o o s 2,360,597

MERCHANDISE WRAPPING Filed Oct. 51. 1942 .raiemea'oa. 17, 1944 2 3 597UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MERCHANDISE WRAPPING Walter L. 'lopolski,Chicago, Ill. Application October 31, 1942, Serial No. 47,121

1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in merchandise wrapping.

In the packaging of certain products, particularly food products for theretail trade, such as meat products for example, it is desirable thatthe packaging or wrapping means not only aiford hygienic protection tothe products, but that the products be readily accessible by theretailer where sales are made in quantities less than the packaged unit.For example, some meat packers wrap boiled hams, and certain other meatsor meat product in individual packages for distribution to retailers,such as butcher shops, delicatessen stores, etc., where the packagesfrequently must be opened for cutting or slicing oil quantities forcustomers who wish to purchase less than the original contents of thepackages. This is particularly true of those products, such as boiledhams, for example, which are relatively high in price. Such hamsfrequently are not of uniform quality from end to end since bone joints,gristle, or excess fat may be found at one end of such hams and if abutcher by mistake removes that end of the wrapper, he may then find itnecessary to remove the other end of the wrapper also with the resultthat the balance of the wrapper may drop from the unsold portion of theham, and the advantage of the wrapper is thus terminated.

In opening such wrappers a butcher or retail salesman frequently uses aknife to sever the end of the package and in so doing may cut off an endportion of the ham which is too thick for sale, but not thick enough tobe sliced readily and thus goes into the scrap box.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved packagingmeans or wrapper for meat or other product which affords hygienicprotection to the products but which can be opened readily, withoutusing a knife, to expose one end of the product to make it accessiblefor cutting or slicing without removal of the-entire wrapper.

Another object of the invention is to provide 7 a protective wrapperprovided with a tear strip on the inside thereof and having one endaccessible for use in severing the wrapper.

In the drawing it) indicates a wrapper which preferably is of seamless,tubular shape form d of Cellophane or similar suitable material. Thetubular shape of the wrapper may be provided by adhesively attachingtogether overlapped edge portions of a sheet, but for reasons mentionedlater the seamless type of tubing is preferred.

The tubular material is cut in lengths greater than the length of theproduct to be wrapped whereby an individual wrapper such as member illof Fig. 1, can be closed over the ends of an article such as a ham orthe like indicated at H in said figure to form a hermetically sealedpackage. In Fig. 1 the end portions of the wrapper ID are shown ashaving been pressed inwardly and gathered in tufts I! which are thentied with strings iii to retain the ends in closed relation.

The means for opening the wrapper comprises a tape i4 which isadhesively attached to the inner wall of the wrapper in a planeextending transversely of the axis of the wrapper. An opening or slit i5is provided in the wrapper 26 through which one end of the tape i4projects as at H. The other end ll of the tape extends over the openingIE to close the same and is adhesively attached to the adjacent portionof the tape inside the wrapper as illustrated in Fig. 3. 80 When abutcher or salesman wishes to open the wrapper the exterior end M" ofthe tape is grasped manually and drawn in a direction away from theinner end M or downwardly and around the package as suggested in Fig. 3.

Th tape is formed of material of sufficient tensile strength towithstand the imposed stresses and tears the wrapper material along theedges of the tape, thus releasing the end portion iii of the wrapperfrom the larger portion iii and 40 enables the end portion Iii to beremoved from the article II by sliding it therefrom. The material ofwhich the tape is formed is flexible but firm whereby the relativelysharp arrises of the tape lying next to the inner surface of the ofthetape is grasped and pulled as described the edges or arrises of thetape shear the wrapper progressively along the edges oi the tapebeginning at the opening I 5. The operation or the tape as describedremoves a strip 01' wrapper material I! from the wrapper, that is, theportion of the wrapper material to which the tape is adhesivelyattached.

The tape may be located nearer one end than the other, as illustrated inFig. 1, so that upon initial opening of the wrapper and discarding thesmaller or left hand portion, the major portion of the wrapper remainsfor'protecting the unsold portion of the article or product fromcontamination by subsequent handling. Since the improved wrappersgenerally inclose the products somewhat loosely, the larger portions I0of the wrappers may be slid rearwardly oi the remaining portions of thecontents as may be required in slicing oil or removing subsequentportions from time to time. This is of advantage where meat products arepackaged since the wrapper portions lo continues to afford substantialprotection to the contents so long as the section remains in use.

In utilizing the present improvements in packaging meat products such ashams which frequently have waste portions, or at least less desirableportions at one end as mentioned above, the top end section III" of thewrapper which bears the tape II should be p1aced over the better end ofthe ham so that, upon opening the package the choicer portions of themeat will be accessible for slicing. The location of the tape. which maybe colored to distinguish it from the wrapper, near one end may thus beemployed by the packer to indicate the better portion of the contentsand avoids the inconvenience that results from the inadvertent openingof present wrappers at thewrong ends. Y 1

While I have shown and described an embodiment' of the invention for thepurpos of iilustration, changes may be made therein without departingfrom the scope and spirit of the invention.

I claim:

A wrapper for an article of merchandise comprising a seamless tubularcasing of flexible material of a length sufllciently greater than thelength of the article that the projecting end portions of the casing canbe gathered and tied to close the casing ends for wholly inclosing thearticle, said casing having a slit therein, and a flexible tear-strip oiilrm material having substantial thickness transversely of the strip andbeing adhesively attached to the inner surface of the casing andextending therearound and having arrises adjacent said surface, one endof said strip projecting from said slit to the exterior'oi' the wrapperfor manual engagement in tearing the adhering portion of the casing fromthe adjacent portion thereof along said arrises of the strip forcompletely severing the casing circumierentially; said other end of saidstrip normally extending over and closing said slit.

WALTER L. TOPOLSKI.

